The Lessons
by Accidentpronexx
Summary: Arthur endeavours to teach Merlin a few of the things he considers easy. It's harder than it sounds.
1. Horse Riding

An ominous thud echoed around the courtyard, something the swarming workers were quickly getting used to. The skinny boy, with his raven hair sticking to his forehead, clambered up, running after the brown mare he'd been trying to ride. He soon caught hold of the reins, trying to soothe the excited horse. The boy leant against the now slightly calmer horse, trying to catch his breath. A familiar cry could suddenly be heard over the buzz of the onlookers:

"Merlin!"

After two failed attempts at a hunting trip, both of which were cancelled due to the lack of a _certain_ servant, Arthur had taken it upon himself to teach Merlin exactly how to ride a horse. Which was proving itself harder than it looked.

Arthur turned back on his horse, after hearing the third in a series of thuds coming from behind him. He narrowed his eyes, staring at the servant who was currently lying on his back, letting his horse run wild around one of the smaller courtyards. He slid off his rather proud-looking stallion, easily tying the reins to the fence nearby. He walked over to his servant and looked down on him threateningly. As the young boy in front of him tried to get up, the prince pushed him back down with his foot. He crouched next to the almost permanently startled looking boy.

"Merlin, I'm starting to think I was wrong about you." The prince said, pursing his lips slightly. The young warlock's eyes widened.

"Really?" Merlin said, still sounding slightly winded.

"Yes, you're even more of an idiot than I first thought." Arthur said, pulling the boy to his feet by his jacket. Giving the younger boy a small shove, he pointed to the horse, which was now trotting around rather happily, as if throwing off his rider had given him some kind of great pleasure. Merlin glared at the horse, feeling slightly humiliated at having barely made it out of the courtyard.

Checking that the prince had his back turned, and that no one else could see him, the young warlock muttered an incantation, making the wildly swinging reins fall still and slip into his hand, slipping themselves into a loop around Merlin's knuckles.

Pushing his hair out of his eyes with his free hand, Merlin walked back over to the re-mounted prince, sincerely hoping this would be the end of his 'lesson'.

Arthur fixed Merlin with a hard penetrating stare, before turning his horse back to the gates. Looking back at Merlin, he shattered the warlock's hopes of rest in a few words.

"What do you think you're doing, Merlin, get back on, I've not lost hope yet."

Hours later, in the deep forests surrounding the castle grounds and it's outlying villages, a loud thud, followed by a shout of surprise, made the birds in the trees screech and fly away in panic, made the small woodlands creatures retreat into their holes, and the young prince of Camelot sigh, and ask the one question to which he dreaded the answer.

"How far did you get this time?"


	2. Sword Fights

Merlin fell to the ground with a soft thump. Stunned for a small second, he looked up in time to see a sword falling down towards him. On instinct he brought his own sword up, blocking the attack before it struck. Breathing heavily, he parried more blows, scrambling to get up. Walking backwards slowly, he tried to judge the next attack from his opponent. He was concentrating so hard that he stumbled, crashing to the floor without any need for attack - he had just brought _himself_ down.

Arthur rolled his eyes as his servant fell to the floor, a stunned look on his face. The prince pointed the tip of his sword against Merlin's throat lightly.

"Really Merlin, you _are_ totally useless. How will you ever handle a sword, when you can barely handle yourself?" He pulled his sword back, sliding it into its sheath. He was exasperated, but refused to give up. Ever since that _damned_ attack during the hunt, Merlin's lack of fighting skills had come more and more to Arthur's attention.

Finding himself moaning to Merlin about how the young servant barely knew how to hold a sword, Merlin had brought up the _small_ fact that not everyone had the _privilege _of being a knight, trained in hand to hand combat, sword fighting, mace fighting, and so on. So Arthur had decided to _try_ and at least teach Merlin the basics. It was proving a harder task than he first thought.

So that's how they found themselves in one of the smaller, unused courtyards of the castle, Arthur supposedly out on a minor hunt, and Merlin supposedly searching for herbs for Gaius. Well, no one could _know_ about the Prince of Camelot _teaching_ his manservant how to fight. It just wasn't acceptable.

Merlin pushed himself up; picking dead leaves out of the spare armour that had been dug out of a pile in the armoury. He picked up his sword, having abandoned it in his fall. He could feel Arthur's gaze on him as he straightened up. He risked a glance at the prince, who was staring at Merlin in something between disbelief and exasperation.

"Merlin, you realised you just felled _yourself_. I was wrong, you're deadly with a sword, and you could kill yourself." The prince shook his head, puzzled at how something that came so easily to him could be so _difficult_ for anyone else.

He pulled his sword out of its sheath again, spinning it reflexively in his hand. To him the action was habitual, something he'd always done with a sword, but to Merlin it looked lethal, the silver catching the light of the sun and flashing in his eyes. Holding his own sword down by his side, he watched Arthur approach, searching for an indicator of which side the attack would come from.

Arthur swung sharply at Merlin, feinting to the right, and coming in from the left. Merlin flashed his sword up just in time to parry the blow, their swords meeting with a sharp clash. Merlin searched his mind for an idea of what to do. He twisted his sword, taking Arthur's wrist along with the movement, making it almost impossible for his sword to move. _Almost._ Arthur pulled back, with a small smile.

"At least we know we're getting somewhere _Mer_lin." He smirked, lunging forward with his sword, taking Merlin by surprise. The young warlock stumbled back, dodging the attack.

"What are you doing!" Merlin shouted, his black hair falling into his eyes. Arthur swung again, Merlin stepping back to dodge.

"A true opponent would never miss a chance for attack, Merlin" The prince said, his sword slicing through the air towards the boy.

"Always be ready for a surprise attack." Arthur said, smiling at the sight of his shocked manservant stumbling backwards.

"If I was ready, it wouldn't be a surprise would it?" Merlin said, radiating shock and annoyance. The young warlock fell back, knocking the breath out of him. He dropped his sword, and splayed his hands in surrender. Arthur tapped the boy's neck with his sword, grinning.

"I win." He said smugly.

Merlin knew this was far from over.


End file.
